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PHILADELPHIA - The No. 6 UC San Diego women’s crew team will travel to the 75th Dad Vail Championships on Schuylkill River, beginning Friday at 4 a.m. PDT and ending on Saturday with a last event scheduled for 1:53 p.m. PDT.

"The Dad Vail is as much about the experience as it is about the racing," said UCSD women's head coach Colin Truex. "We are going to see the best teams from the South and East Regions, which will serve as an NCAA preview for us. In addition, we get to race in a classic regatta on its 75th anniversary, in a venue with tremendous rowing tradition and in a historical American city. The racing and the experience will be very memorable for the team."

The women's Varsity 4+ craft will square off with its opponents in the women's Varsity Division II/III 4+ event on Friday at 5:12 a.m. PDT, while the women’s Varsity 8+ boat will hit the water later that day in the women’s Varsity Division II 8+ competition, slated to begin at 7:53 a.m. PDT.

Union, The College of New Jersey, Florida State, Dowling and Vassar will take on the Tritons in the Varsity 4+ race. The UCSD women's Varsity 8+ shell will face Lowell, Grand Valley State, top-ranked Nova Southeastern and Orange Coast College.

"Nova Southeastern is No. 1 for a reason," Truex said. "They have raced very well all season and have continued to gain speed throughout the whole spring. They have beaten numerous D-I schools and have done so handily. They are seasoned, deep, and strong. It is going to take an extraordinary effort to beat them. The good news is that we are hitting our stride right now as a team. Our boats are moving their fastest at the right time. We surprised some people at WIRA (Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association), and I am sure we will surprise some people at Dad Vail."

In order to advance to the semifinals on Saturday, the Varsity 4+ team will have to finish among the top three in its heat. The top three finishers in each semifinal heat will reach the final, also on Saturday.

For the Varsity 8+ squad, winning the heat will send it all the way to Saturday's final. However, if it finishes second through fourth in the section, it will compete among second, third and fourth-place boats from both heats in the repechage. The four fastest teams in the repechage will reunite with the Friday round winners in the final. The vessels that finished fifth in each Friday heat and fifth or sixth in the repechage will end the regatta in the second final.

Upon the conclusion of the competition, the Tritons will have to wait nearly three weeks before the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, which will run May 31 through June 2.